By means of a pulsed slit jet and an infrared tunable diode laser spectrome
ter, the vibration-rotation absorption spectra of the complexes C2H2-(HCl)-
Cl-35 and C2H2-(HCl)-Cl-37 have been observed for the first time in the 3.6
mu m region of the nu(1) band correlated with the HCl stretch. All the lin
es of the spectrum have been assigned for J=0 to 18 and K-a=0, 1, 2, 3. To
determine the band origin and the rotational and centrifugal constants, the
observed line frequencies have been fitted to those determined by the Wats
on Hamiltonian in the A reduction. A force constant model has been used to
derive the binding energy D-e of the complex and the intermolecular stretch
ing harmonic frequency from the experimental spectroscopic constants. The a
vailable experimental results concerning these complexes and other isotopic
forms (DCl)-Cl-35 and (DCl)-Cl-37 were compared with ab initio calculation
s performed at the coupled-cluster single double triple [CCSD(T)] level of
theory. The comparison turned out to be very good for all the properties co
nsidered (geometries, frequencies, energies). (C) 2000 American Institute o
f Physics. [S0021-9606(00)00436-0].